Start by boiling some eggs. I actually boil 15 dozen eggs in 3 batches (60 per pot). Once the water comes to a boil, set your timer for 14 minutes. You don't want to over boil your eggs because this turns the yolks a disgusting green color. To make it easier to peel, crack the eggs and plunge them into cold water.

Thirty peeled eggs go into the mixer. A food processor can be used, but I find that it goes too fast and turns the eggs to mush. Some people don't bother to peel the eggs and throw the whole thing in. Either way works. I like to serve the shells separately. Mix at slow to medium speed.

Mix until the egg yolks are broken up and most of the whites are as well. Should be fairly crumbly at this point.

Add the dry ingredients, Vionate and pulverized zinc tablets. The zinc tablets (available at most health food stores) are run through an electric coffee grinder. This turns the zinc into a fine powder. Zinc is one trace mineral that is missing from Vionate so it is added here. This will form a drier, more crumbly mixture.

Next add the oil. If you do not want to use the Vetafarms Breeding Tonic, use 1/2 cup of wheat germ oil instead. I have used cod liver oil but find it not as stable as the wheat germ oil. Be careful at this point. Too much mixing will cause the batch to go mushy. Mix slowly and just enough to incorporate the oil before moving on. I often decrease the amount of oil during the summer months.

Finally, begin mixing in the dry egg food. I use a product from the Seed Factory, but CeDe is very similar. This will bring the mixture back to a dry crumbly state, but again, be careful and don't over mix. The flour and bread crumbs from the egg food mix and the cornmeal from the Vionate will mix with the wet eggs and oil and begin to form a dough if you mix it too much. Just enough to form a dry mix, then stop. You want to keep the protein ratio up so don't add too many carbohydrates with the dry mix.

This egg food freezes very well. I portion out 2 cup servings and freeze them in individual plastic containers. These are thawed out in the refrigerator each night for serving the next morning. The thawed egg food will have a slightly different texture from the freshly mixed egg food, but the birds will eagerly eat it just the same. It's best not to try and use a microwave to speed up the thawing process. It just isn't the same.

Tips:
For a drier mix without sacrificing the oil, boil and peel the eggs the day before and place them in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. The next day they will have drained off a lot of the excess moisture contained in the egg.

Don't attempt to fix a mushy mixture by adding more and more dry egg food. This just makes more dough and decreases the egg ratio.

You'll find nearly as many egg food recipes as you'll find bird keepers. Some of the ingredients used by other breeders include couscous, peas, carrots, corn, dog food, hand feeding mix, etc. I've tried to keep my mix simple with only the things I think they need, not want. I think there may be a tendency by some to make the egg food supplement more appealing to humans rather than address the needs of the birds.

Small Batch RecipeSo you only have a few birds? The small batch recipe can be made in only a few minutes with only a few eggs. You can vary this recipe easily. You can use the vitamins of your choice and eliminate the oil and commercial egg food. Heck, you can reduce it down to just scrambled eggs.

While the large batch recipe can be altered to make smaller batches, some people found the amount daunting for only a pair or two. The key goals with any egg food is to provide protein and a soft, easily digestible food for birds feeding their young. Remember, a whole egg has everything needed to make a whole little chicken.

Small Batch Recipe

Scramble 3 eggs with 1 teaspoon of Wheat Germ oil.

Mash them up with a fork.

Mix in 3 teaspoons of Vionate Vitamins and some dried egg food.

Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes to soak into dry ingredients..